Contents

Biography

Mary Bliss was born in 1628 at Gloucestershire, Canterbury, England.[1]Or her birth may have been in 1626 Belstone Parish, Devonshire, England since that was the home of her father, Thomas Bliss.[2]She was the daughter of Thomas Bliss[1][2]and his wife Margaret (Hulins) Bliss.[1][2]

Mary Bliss (Blisse) was married to Joseph Parsons[3]on November 26, 1646[3]at Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts[3] or at Hartford, Connecticut.[1]([citation needed] to clarify which city/state is correct.)

Joseph Parsons, Mary's husband, purchased a tract of land from the local natives in the area that would become Northampton, Massachusetts.[2]He also owned property in Springfield, Hadley, and Boston, Massachusetts.[2]

In 1656 Mary was accused of witchcraft by some of her neighbors who were supposedly jealous of her wealth and wanted to disgrace her. In 1674 formal charges were made and she was sent to Boston for trial. She was acquitted and returned but when her son Ebenezer was killed, neighbors said it was God's judgement. It was said that she possessed great beauty and talent, but was "not amenable".

Acknowledgements

Therese Schmidt, Information is taken from Taylor Family tree compiled by Coreen Traverzo, circa 2010 and Taylor Families 1592-1993, Roderic Alan Davis, 2nd compiler on freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com, 14 March 2005. Information has not been verified with primary sources at this point.

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